Victor drained his coffee cup. “I have an errand to run near here. I’ll be back by five to take you home or maybe out to do something fun since you hid at home all weekend.”I glanced at the clock. “That sounds good. I have a meeting in ten minutes, but it should be wrapped up in a half hour.”I didn’t tell Victor any details about this meeting because I wanted him to be surprised when I pulled off a great deal for the company. I found someone in need of an investor for a profitable venture.“See you soon,” Victor said as he headed for the elevators.Soon after he left, a young Alpha named Ronald Shoup arrived. The receptionist showed him into my office and brought us coffee and water before returning to her desk.Ronald and I at a party a few weeks ago when he made me the offer, and he followed up with a meeting last week here in my office.“Did you have the contract drawn up?” I asked. I didn’t want to sound overly eager, but closing my first big deal was exciting.I wanted to exami
I wanted to run forever.Running through the high grasses or tracking small creatures in the woods kept me from thinking about Amy and my near humiliation at the hands of the parasite.For hours, Victor and I and our wolves enjoyed each other’s company and the joy of being a part of nature without any conversation to distract us.It was well after dark when we raced one last time around the field before leaping into the pagoda pond to cool off.Victor's wolf followed me into the water, and we paddled around until Victor suddenly shifted human.“What time is it?” he asked. “I’m starving.”When I didn’t answer, he swam closer, and I shifted too.“Daisy, don’t feel bad about what happened with the parasite,” Victor said. “But you need to trust your instincts more. Stop doubting yourself and start doubting strangers instead.”“I won’t be trusting anybody again,” I assured him. “Ronald cured me of that.”“There are plenty of people you can trust in this world,” Victor assured me. “Don’t le
When Amy wasn’t sitting on our bench again the following morning, I went looking for her.I walked down the front of the building, checking for her in each group of students standing around, talking and laughing as they prepared themselves for the school day.Next, I went inside and checked the cafeteria and the library. When I had no luck in either place, I went to her locker. But she wasn’t there either.I found her sitting in her homeroom with her head on the desk, cradled in her arms.I wanted to go into the room and talk to her, but the teacher was there, and he didn’t tolerate students talking in his classroom unless he called upon them.It was the perfect place for Amy to avoid talking to me.Still, I wasn’t going to give up. I knew enough about Amy’s school day to find a place to talk to her.Amy beat me to math class, and the teacher scolded me when I didn’t take my seat immediately. But I was ready after the bell rang, and I followed her out the door, through the hallway, an
A few days later, I had six tickets to the progressive dinner in my hand. When Joe picked me up in the limo to take me home, I had him swing by Gray’s restaurant.Amy was alone in the kitchen, cleaning the floor. When she saw me, she turned her back and leaned on the mop. I hated how her shoulders slumped like she had lost all hope.“Amy, the progressive dinner is next Friday night,” I said. “It was your idea, and you should be there.”She didn’t move or answer me. She seemed to be barely breathing.“I brought tickets for you and your Dad.” I held the tickets over her shoulder so she could see them.But she wouldn’t take them from me.Instead, she turned around and looked at me with pain in her eyes. I realized then that she missed me as much as I missed her.But her expression told me it wasn’t enough to bring us back together.“Why would I want to go to a dinner to be humiliated by Alphas again?” she asked. Her voice was calm, but her eyes told a different story.“I would never let
The reporter was astounded by my revelation and struggled to think of her next question. “I heard you tell people it wasn’t your idea, but were you serious? A friend really gave you the idea for this progressive dinner?”“Yes, my best friend since we were very young,” I confirmed. “Her name is Amy.”“Is Amy here tonight?” the reporter asked as the restaurant went silent. “We would love to talk to her about how she got the idea for the dinner.”“No. She wouldn’t come. She was afraid to attend the dinner because of an incident at a party a short time ago,” I revealed.The reporter leaned closer. “Will you tell us about the incident? What made your friend afraid to attend this remarkable dinner that was her idea?”I looked into the camera. “Since my life has changed and has become more complicated, we couldn’t see each other as much as we would have liked.”I hoped I was doing the right thing and continued. I needed everyone to know the truth about the situation and what happened to Amy.
Amy watched my speech on the ten o’clock news.She texted me with a single heart emoji and a short message. “Fantastic speech. You’re going in the right direction.”I reread the text many times and thought about the things she said to me and how I had changed.Amy had been right about the new me. I became caught up in my Alpha life and forgot who I was and where I came from.But now, I was determined to combine the new me with the old me to create an unstoppable force to help make the world a better place for everyone.Over the following week, my goal to become a person I respected became the most important thing in my life.Instead of thinking of ways to solely make a profit, I began looking for solutions to problems plaguing the Beta and Omega population.They had more problems than bullying. They were taken advantage of and kept under the control of Alphas by the lack of education, information, and opportunities.And when someone believed they would only have misery and hard work i
Victor’s POV“I’m too tired to keep working,” Alex told me. “You need to take over as leader of the association soon.”“I thought you were feeling better,” I said. Daisy would be crushed if Alex was failing again.“I’m not cured, Victor, just in remission,” Alex sighed. “Please try to understand that I want to take it easy and do as I please for the rest of whatever time I have left.”There it was. I couldn’t delay it any longer. To refuse was unthinkable. My agreement with Daisy was coming to an end.“When?” I asked.“As soon as possible,” Alex replied.“I need a week to clear my schedule,” I said. I wanted to be there for Daisy while she got her project cleared by the board of directors. It meant a great deal to her. I wanted to help encourage her to make the project a reality.“Very good,” Alex agreed. “We’ll do it next Tuesday.”“Alex, please don’t say anything to Daisy just yet,” I requested. “She has an important project she’s trying to get off the ground, and I don’t want anyth
Victor arrived at my office the next afternoon before I expected him to be there. But I was happy to see him. His help with the report was invaluable.The report was coming together way ahead of schedule, and the research was revealing the data and numbers I was hoping it would show. The team I selected was doing a great job.“This is an amazing report,” Victor said. “You should be proud, Daisy. You should be ready to present it to the board on Monday.”“I would like you to be there,” I said. “You give me extra confidence.”Victor grinned. “That’s good to hear. And I would be glad to be there to watch you persuade them to let you start the project.”I sent the meeting request to each board member, asking them to be present in the conference room on Monday afternoon at one p.m.“I can’t wait, but I’m nervous too,” I told Victor.“That’s understandable,” Victor said. “You need to unwind before then. You know, have a little R and R. You deserve some fun.”“What did you have in mind, a ru